GYM and TONIC!

Gin and Tonics were flowing, fabulous food was consumed and gym gear was adorned; all in the name of community spirit and the arts! The show was attended by nearly 100 people including Ross Beckett, Country Arts WA Chairperson who travelled all the way from Esperance!

 The Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council was proud to bring the Country Arts WA touring show “Gym and Tonic” to the Hopetoun Everett Golf Club on Monday May 25^th 2015. The show was created and performed by Roz Hammond, as seen on Muriel’s Wedding, The Librarians and Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell!
Roz Hammond played eight different gym-junkie characters in her self-penned, one woman show, based on her own work as a trainer in a women's gym. 

The vision was to make it more than just the show with additions such as delicious platters by Steele and Streets Woodfired Treats and café style cakes available after the show with proceeds going to the Hopetoun P&C.

Audience members were encouraged to dress up in their gym gear and participate in a mock “circuit” as they entered the Golf Club. Special mention to Carly Reeve who was awarded the best-dressed prize on the night. Carly won a massage voucher for Cassie’s Remedial Massage that was kindly donated by Cassie Badcock.

We thank the local community for supporting the Arts Council and coming along to the show, we hope everyone had an amazing night out!

The next Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council show is The Lost WW1 Diary by Damien Callinan at the Jerdacuttup Hall on Saturday August 29th 2015. It will be the last Country Arts WA touring show of the year that the RRAC will present in collaboration with the Jerdacuttup Community Association, so see you there!!!

 

Please enjoy these photos from the event.

 

 

Almost time for Gym and Tonic!

Tonight's Gym and Tonic performed by Roz Hammond is out at the Hopetoun Golf Club.

Doors open at 5:30pm for the bar and Steele and Streets Woodfired Treats will have tasty platters to share.  Platters will cost $35 (to feed two) and include;
-Tandoori chicken skewers
-anti pesto
-hummus
-hand rolled cheese sticks
-spinach focaccia
-roast capo and cashew dip
-smoked salmon with Cream fresh and seaweed salad
-Asian rice paper rolls
-Chorizo sausage

After the show stick around to support the Hopetoun Primary School P & C and have a delicious supper of amazing café style cakes and tea!

The FREE bus (thanks to Lotterywest) departs Ravensthorpe Community Resource Centre at 6pm.

Be sure to wear your best (or worst!) gym gear to be in for a prize!

 

 

 

Roz Hammond performs all 8 characters in Gym & Tonic.  photo by James Penlidis.

 

 

The tables are set for the show!

Jamie and Narda begin preparing for the evening meals.

 

 

A community arts project for all!

A feel-good piece about brittle bones, broken hearts and the unswerving love of mothers!

 Country Arts WA and Act-Belong-Commit present Gym and Tonic locally presented by Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council at

 

Hopetoun Everett Golf Club
Monday May 25

image by James Penlidis

Writer/performer Roz Hammond is familiar to ABC audiences through her work in Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell, The Librarians and The Micallef Programme, together with countless other credits including Muriel’s Wedding, The Dish, Please Like Me, Offspring, and It’s a Date. Now she brings her own one-woman show to her home state of Western Australia.

An uplifting story set in a women’s gym class where a group of strangers gradually reveal themselves as they bump and grind through a set of hilariously inappropriate routines. Exploring the themes of love, loss, loneliness and family, Roz plays all eight characters in this warm and moving tale.
First runner up for the Artrage Theatre Award at the 2014 Perth Fringe, Gym and Tonic enjoyed a sold out season at the 2013 Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

"Hammond is a sparkling performer who holds our attention and gains our
sympathy as her stories unfold." David Zampatti, The West Australian

"If the likes of Calendar Girls, Steel Magnolias and Jam & Jerusalem give you the sudden urge to call up the girls for a slumber party (even if you are well into your sixties), Gym & Tonic is like a bear-hug from your best friend." Perth Culture

2014 Perth Fringe Festival, First Runner Up - Artrage Theatre Award
"A touching and superbly performed piece of theatre that explores themes of love, loss, family and loneliness" Timeout

"You will definitely leave this show feeling elated and reflective" Herald Sun

"The show is a dazzling display of her skills as a sketch-comedy writer-performer – familiar to anyone who’s seen her in multiple incarnations on the small screen (most recently in Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell’). However, it’s also much more than that." Crikey

"If the likes of Calendar Girls, Steel Magnolias and Jam & Jerusalem give you the sudden urge to call up the girls for a slumber party (even if you are well into your sixties), Gym & Tonic is like a bear-hug from your best friend." Perth Culture

"Hammond is a sparkling performer who holds our attention and gains our sympathy as her stories unfold." David Zampatti, The West Australian

*Tickets $25 adult, $20 concession on sale now at Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe CRCs. Ravensthorpe CRC can take over the phone bookings with credit cards on 9838 1340.

Doors and bar open 5:30pm with meals available for purchase from Steel and Streets Woodfired Treats.

Show starts 7:30pm.  Please note that meals and drinks cannot be served during the 50 minute performance.

Free bus departs Ravensthorpe CRC car park at 6pm, collect from Wavecrest car park along the way.


* Recommended Audience 18+. Minimal swearing. Adult themes (death, loss, loneliness).

Term One of Dance Finished in Style!

 

The Hopetoun Dance Group has successfully completed its first term of dance classes and it finished in style! On Thursday April 2, 2015 all dancers aged four years and up put on a performance for families and friends to showcase what they had learnt throughout the term. More than 45 children participate in Jazz Ballet and Hip Hop classes offered after school. All the dancers looked fabulous in their costumes, thank you to Astrid and Russell from Hopetoun IGA Community Chest Fund who kindly donated $200 to enable us to buy costumes. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our sponsors: The Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council, First Quantum Minerals, Hopetoun Primary School, School of Bop and Little Barrens Early Learning Centre. Bringing dance to this community wouldn’t be possible without the support of these businesses so we thank you very much.

Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council PD Weekend

 

A sense of belonging and community cohesion through the arts and culture as an integral part of everyday life in our region.

On the weekend of March 14/15, a group of 6 RRAC committee members took themselves off to Albany in the hope of finding peace and quiet to revaluate and reassess their vision.

We stayed at the centrally located Mary Thompson House, part of the Vancouver Arts Centre.  Arriving Friday night amid the chaos of the VAC’s first No Lights, No Lycra event proved somewhat challenging to find parking and unload, but with a bit of car shuffling we were soon all sorted and sitting down to dinner and a meeting.

After a late first night (we get excited when discussing future plans and possibilities) we began early the next morning with a Strategic Planning Session with the excellent facilitator Liz Jack from the Denmark Chamber of Commerce.  It was tough going; Liz was not easy on us and had high expectations…but her experience in business planning and the arts sector was a huge opportunity for us to gain a clear picture about who we are as an organisation and where we are going. 

Among some of the main points that came out of the session was that RRAC has an excellent opportunity to be leaders in the role of alleviating or addressing social issues within the arts, that we desire greater inclusivity across all profiles of our community, that we want to strengthen current partnerships with other groups, businesses and organisations and that we need to do more meaningful community consultation in developing our programs.

After an exhausting but productive day we decided to reward ourselves with a nice dinner out, and took along Amber Perryman (past RRAC   committee member and now manages the VAC) to catch up on all the Albany news. 

The next morning, after another late night out, cocktails and intermittent smoke alarms going off in the night (picture mature women in PJ’s running around at 3am to try and work out which alarm was the culprit and accusing each other of secret cigarette smoking in the hall) it was a more subdued group- some more subdued than others- that tackled a session on Social Media skills and reviewing a bunch of policy drafts.

It was, all in all, an extremely productive and fun filled weekend; now comes the hard part in applying all those decisions and producing those outcomes!

Find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Raveaboutarts 

 

Friday Night's Meeting

Saturday's Strategic Planning with Liz Jack.

A pity there was no time to admire the view from the deck.

...and Liz pulls out the big guns; hundreds of sticky notes to capture our thoughts!

 

 

We still managed to make some new friends on the way home!

 

Some of us really bonded!

 

RAVENSTHORPE’S 2015 WEARABLE ART PROJECT

A VERY SPECIAL PROJECT IS COMING SOON AND YOU CAN BE PART OF IT!

The Ravensthorpe District Art Group invites you to create a Wearable Art piece inspired by our natural environment.

This is the perfect opportunity for textile artists, craftspeople, students and anyone with a love of textile art and creativity to show what they can do!

The creations will be displayed at the Ravensthorpe Wildflower Show Gala Dinner on 19 September 2015, on Manikins or modeled in the Gala Parade.

What is Wearable Art?

The wearable art movement made a statement in both the fashion and art industries in the mid-1900s and despite being hard to define; wearable art is still very popular today. The term can be applied to anything that can be worn including jewellery, clothing, bags, and hats. It is a very creative field which expresses the wearer's personality and values around colour, design, spontaneity, politics, culture and sense of joy.

Wearable Art might reflect cultural heritage, a commitment to sustainability, functionality, personal narratives, a wish to build community and change lives or it may simply be a piece of artful whimsy aimed at bringing some light hearted fun to the day. As a result most of the pieces, whether they are jewellery, fabric, felt or leather work will usually be unique pieces worn by the wearer as a focal point rather than as an accessory.

Wearable art can be wild and experimental or simple. It often represents the artists wish to push past their own technical and aesthetic boundaries in the materials and techniques they use to create something different that is still beautiful and wearable.

So get your thinking caps on now! Outfits can be any interpretation of the theme (Our Natural Environment) as long as they are primarily (more than 50%) textile material, and group entries are accepted as well.

Examples of Wearable Art are readily available on the web if you are looking for inspiration.  Entries can be a full costume or article of clothing or decorative piece such as shoulder pads or a cape. 

To assist with this project the Ravensthorpe District Art Group has received support from the Ravensthorpe Regional Arts Council to run some workshops during the year covering techniques that may be of use.

The first workshop “Fun with Felt” will be held over the weekend of 9 and 10 of May. Albany Felter, Lynley Campbell, will show how to make and embellish felt and participants will create their own bodice piece or cuffs.  Numbers for this workshop are limited so please contact Jen Chambers on 0429 381018 if you are interested. 

Entry forms for the 2015 Wearable Art Exhibition will be available soon at local outlets and more information will be in the next paper.